The perseverance of women from a non-profit in Goregaon forced the police to register a harassment complaint of a school girl, which was earlier being passed off as an assault case.

The perseverance of women from a non-profit in Goregaon forced the police to register a harassment complaint of a school girl, which was earlier being passed off as an assault case.

Three days ago, the 16-year-old student told her mother that three men from their locality in Goregaon (East) had been misbehaving with her and making lewd remarks. Angry, the girl’s mother along with her cousin brother went to the home of the men to fight with them. They ended up beating each other up and the police filed an assault cross complaint (an FIR against both sides), but did not take note of the sexual harassment that led to the fight.

“The girl’s family should have come to us rather than going to the residence of the men directly,” said Jaywant Mane, senior inspector of Dindoshi police.

The police registered a case of assault and arrested the men — Narendra Yadav, 23 and Shivprakash Yadav, 24. The police also registered a case against the girl’s mother and cousin brother on charges of trespassing and assault and arrested the girl’s mother.

A nearby non-profit, Deshbhakti Andolan, learnt of the case and intervened. They ensured the police recorded the girl’s statement on Thursday and added charges of outraging a woman’s modesty against the men.

“When the girl would pass the narrow market lane to go to school, the accused would make lewd comments. On some occasions, they also held her dupatta and obstructed her path,” said Avisha Kulkarni, who heads the non-profit. “The boys had been harassing the girl for a long time, but she did not tell her parents as she was afraid they would stop her education. However, she could not take the harassment anymore and told her mother.”

Kulkarni claimed that the boys had also threatened to throw acid on the girl’s face.